A Misunderstanding
by helpthehorriblelovethelonely
Summary: Harry has been in love with Ron for years, and on the night of his 24th birthday, he thinks those feelings are returned. That is, until ron wakes up the next morning not being able to remember a thing. It was just a one-night stand, right? nothing serious, right? but then why did Harry feel so broken inside? (angsty, but with a happy ending :) )


It was just a one-night stand, nothing serious, but then why did Harry feel so broken inside?

It had been his birthday; he was celebrating his 24th with the Weasley's like he did every year. It was a great party, all of his friends came, both the ones from school and the ones from work he had made over the last few years. Although his St. Mungos colleagues weren't as crazy as his old school friends were, it was still fun to have them around.

Harry was the center of attention; everybody was giving him hugs and telling him happy birthday and passing him shots and bottles of beer. He was having a great time, like he always did when he was around his friends.

The party had lasted well into the early hours of the morning, and by the end of the party, Harry found himself laying on the couch in his best mates Livingroom, tired as Hell but smiling at how good of a time he'd had.

Harry had stopped drinking around 10pm, but the others kept the party alive by doing more shots. Harry had to stop himself from getting his soda up his nose when he saw Fred and George trying to do body-shots off of each other, at the same time. Needless to say, it hadn't worked.

Now it was 4 in the morning, and he was too tired to apparate home, so he decided to crash at Ron's place. The redhead was off doing something somewhere, while Harry laid on the couch enjoying the silence of the now empty apartment. He was sobering up well, he was now only a little bit beyond the tipsy point. He couldn't say the same for Ron though, who's last shot was at 1 am and he was still riding the wave of drunkenness into the morning.

Harry laid on the couch staring up at the ceiling for a while, trying not to get too lost in thought as his still addled mind ran circles around him. He found himself thinking of the only thing that had been on his mind for over 2 years now. Ron.

Ron was his best mate, they hung out at least once a week to either watch movies or play games or just sit around and talk. It was at one of these hang out sessions not long after they graduated Hogwarts that Harry had come out to his friend that he was gay. The brunette was worried that their friendship would be stunted by the information, but it hadn't been. In fact, Ron just chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, saying "knew you were into blokes when we were in sixth year, Harry. Nobody would obsess over Malfoy that much unless they were into him somehow," Harry had thrown a pillow at him, but it was all in good nature. They laughed and went back to the movie they had been watching.

It was a couple years later that at another one of their scheduled hang outs, when Ron had (albeit drunkenly) told Harry that he was bisexual. Harry had laughed softly and shook his head "well, congrats on figuring it out," he hadn't known his friend had any interest in guys, not like Ron had known with Harry, but Harry really couldn't think of anything else to say.

They were nearing their mid-twenties now; Ron was making his way up the ranks as an auror and Harry had just finished his first year as an official healer at . They rarely had time to do anything anymore, but they still found the time to meet at least once a week, even if only for an hour at a time.

It had been Harry's birthday, so they both took off the next morning, knowing that they would probably either be still drunk or too hungover to even think about coming into work the next day. Which is why Harry had had no problem staring at the ceiling at half past 4 in the morning just thinking.

Somehow, over their long friendship, Harry found himself having feelings for Ron. He noticed them somewhere near his 21st birthday, when he watched Ron bring a guy over to one of the Weasley twins' notorious parties. Harry had felt a deep, almost stabbing pain in his chest, jealousy bubbling up inside of him at seeing the two together. It was then that he'd realized, he was in love with his best friend.

He tried to squash the feelings down, he tried to bury them so far that he would never be able to get them back up, but it never worked, they always found their way back to the surface. Hermione had noticed his feelings, of course, and she had sat him down to talk with him. Hermione suggested telling the redhead, although even she didn't know how their friend would react to the news, so Harry decided to stay quiet.

It had been three years sense he'd realized he loved Ron in more than just a brotherly way, but he hadn't acted on it, and he didn't plan to. He was happy being around the other even if it was just as friends, he didn't want to ruin that.

Harry was torn out of his musings by Ron stumbling through the front door, finally back from saying the last goodbyes to their friends. Ron closed the front door behind him and locked it like he did every night, before turning and his eyes landing on Harry. Harry thought he saw surprise on the redheads face, he was probably too drunk to remember Harry had decided to stay the night. Harry just looked up at him and smiled "Hey mate, welcome back," he chuckled, his head felt airy and his body felt warm from the remaining alcohol in his system.

Harry watched as Ron seemed to think on something, and then a look of determination cross his eyes as he walked up to Harry. "Har'" Ron's voice was slurred a little, and he came and sat on the edge of the couch Harry was laying on.

"Yes Ron?" Harry chuckled, sitting up so that Ron could have more room and so that they were equal in height.

He had expected Ron to start babbling about something like quidditch or work or family or whatever else was on his mind, what he didn't expect however, was the hand that fell on the back of his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss.

Harry gasped, and Ron used the opportunity to slip his tongue into Harry's mouth and explore. Harry couldn't help the small moan that escaped him, his hands moving to land on Ron's shoulders to keep himself steady. He could taste the alcohol still on the redheads tongue, and it caused Harry to break out of his momentary loss of thinking.

He pulled away from the kiss, his chest heaving a little as he took deep breaths. He held them about a foot apart and he looked up at Ron, his eyes wide and full of confusion. "Ron, what-"

He was cut off by Ron moving his hands from his face to his hips, picking him up and pulling Harry into his lap. Harry couldn't help the small gasp when he felt something very hard rest against his thigh. Ron leaned in towards Harry, "Want you," he murmured, pulling the other closer. "need you." he whispered as he moved and started kissing at Harry's neck. Harry moaned again, baring his neck for easier access. Something inside of him tried to tell him that Ron was drunk, and he wasn't thinking, and Harry should pull away right now and make Ron go to sleep to sober up. But the only thing Harry could focus on was how good it was, and how he fit perfectly against the redhead, and how right it all felt.

Ron kissed him again, hard and sloppy and desperate. Harry kissed back with just as much desperation, wrapping his arms around the others neck. Harry squeaked a little when he felt Ron pick him up, he wrapped his legs around him instinctively as they continued to kiss. They broke apart and Ron carried him towards the bedroom, going back to his kissing and sucking on Harrys neck. They waked into the room and Ron closed the door with his foot, before placing Harry on the bed and following in after him.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Harry watched as the sun came up through the window, he was wrapped firmly in Ron's arms, still basking in the afterglow of their love making. Ron had fallen asleep not too long after they had finished, but Harry wasn't tired anymore. He drew small circles on Ron's chest as he slept, Harry found the humming noise Ron responded with was beautiful to him.

They lay like that for a long while, Harry held protectively in Ron's arms, the sun's rays falling into the room through the curtains. Harry felt his stomach growl at half past 10, he chuckled to himself before carefully pulling away from his friend so as not to wake him up. Ron was a heavy sleeper, so he barely stirred when Harry moved. Harry smiled over at him and found his clothes on the floor, putting them on and making his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Harry couldn't help but blush at the amount of love bites that trailed down both sides of his neck and under his shirt collar, but he smiled a little at the feeling of being wanted that Ron so easily made him feel. He brushed his teeth and went out into the kitchen, putting on the coffee pot and taking out ingredients to make breakfast, or brunch, or whatever you wanted to call it.

He poured himself a large mug of coffee, adding his sugar and cream before just savoring it for a moment. He was warm inside, it felt like his magic was thrumming around him in happiness, he smiled again. He was halfway through making the food when he heard Ron start to shuffle around the bedroom, Harry made him a cup of coffee and placed it on the island counter in front of one of the barstools there, he also summoned a hangover potion and sat it next to the drink.

Ron came out a couple minutes later looking rather groggy, he had on flannel pajama pants and a lose t-shirt, Harry just smiled at him and pointed to the coffee and potion on the table.

Ron's eyes lit up when he saw them, and he sat down on the barstool and downed the potion, his eyes seemed to clear and the tension in his shoulders seemed to drop. He then started to drink his coffee. Ron finally looked up at Harry when his best friend put a plate of food in front of him, his eyes widened at all the hickeys on his friends neck. "Wow, Har'" he said, a little amazed "you sure had a fun night last night, huh?"

Harry felt something in his stomach fall, but he kept the smile on his face, maybe he was teasing him? But the uneasiness stayed where it was, "Yeah, it was fantastic, landed me a right catch."

"So, who was the bloke?" Ron asked in between bites of food.

Harry frowned. Ron didn't remember. Harry had to force the tears welling up in his eyes down, and he took a breath before speaking just to make sure it wouldn't come out all wobbly. "Oh, don't worry about it, I'm pretty sure it won't happen again…" he turned back to his own food, suddenly not hungry anymore.

"Doubt that, seemed like he liked you if anything's to tell from the hickeys." he teased, seeming to not notice Harry's mood decline.

Harry felt like his heart shattered in his chest, "Yeah, I thought so, too." He whispered, taking only a bite or two from his plate before standing and summoning his things to him. "Thanks for letting me crash here, Ron," his voice was starting to shake, and he stared up at the ceiling to keep both from looking at Ron and to keep his tears from falling.

Ron frowned at his behavior, "Harry, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?" he asked, standing and taking a step towards Harry. Harry still refused to look at him, and started walking towards the door,

"Nah mate, you're good." His voice was higher than normal as he fought back his emotions. "I'll uh, see you later I guess," and before Ron could say anything else, Harry was gone. Once Harry landed in his own apartment, the tears began to fall. He made his way to his room and crawled into his own bed, curling into as small a ball as possible. He sobbed; how could he have been so stupid? To actually think that Ron wanted him. He had just wanted someone, anyone. If Harry wasn't there and someone else was, he would have done the same thing. Harry berated himself as he cried, he should have known better, should have stopped everything immediately after the initial kiss, but he hadn't. He should have known all Ron needed in that moment was a one night stand to get his fix, but he didn't, he actually thought the man wanted him- Harry. The tightness in his chest that felt like he was suffocating only got worse, and he wished he could take it all back. Now here he was, curled up into a ball sobbing his eyes out, with nothing but an empty feeling in his chest to accompany him.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Ron woke up with the smell of food coming from the other room. His stomach growled, but the ache in his head and the feeling like he had been run over by a herd of hippogriffs drowned out his hunger. He shifted in bed, suddenly noticing his lack of clothes. He looked down at himself in confusion, had he hooked up with someone last night? He shook his head, he couldn't remember, but the person that he shared a bed with was obviously gone now, so he didn't think it much mattered that he couldn't remember.

He stood up with a small groan and he walked over to his dresser to pull out some clean pajamas. He put on some pajama pants and an old t-shirt before heading out into the kitchen. He vaguely remembered Harry saying he was staying the night, so he wasn't worried about who the random person in his kitchen making breakfast was. He stepped out of the dark room and squinted at the light pouring in from the windows into the main portion of his apartment. His head continued to pound as he made his way over to the island to sit down. He wasn't paying much attention to Harry, but when he saw his friend point to the coffee and the potion, his eyes lit up.

He sat in his seat and downed the potion, sighing in relief as his hangover faded away, Ron then turned to the cup of coffee and drank it leisurely. He opened his eyes when he heard the plate of food being placed in front of him, and he grinned at it before looking up at Harry to say his thanks. As Harry finally came into focus Ron's eyes widened, he was staring at the number of hickeys that adorned his friends neck. He felt something inside of him twist uncomfortably, but he ignored it, he didn't want to deal with the jealousy right now.

"You sure had fun last night, huh?" he asked his friend, he forced a crooked grin on his face.

He watched as something flickered in Harry's eyes, and he wondered what it exactly it was before he heard the other speak , "Yeah, it was fantastic, landed me a right catch," Ron gave him a smile, Harry hadn't been with anybody in a while, a few years if Ron remembered correctly, and no matter how much it pained him to see Harry with someone else, Ron was happy for him.

"So, who was the bloke?" Ron asked in between bites of food, he sounded as if he was just simply curious, he didn't allow any emotion to show through to his face or in his voice, and he was proud at how natural he sounded.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I'm pretty sure it won't happen again…" Harry had said, looking down at the food on his plate, kind of just pushing it around. Ron noticed, but he didn't say anything. Harry must have liked the guy if the thought of not seeing him again was bringing his mood down.

"Doubt that, seemed like he liked you if anything's to tell from the hickeys," he tried to encourage, Ron was hoping that his words would make Harry believe he had a second chance with whoever this mystery guy was, and he would be a little happier. But that wasn't the case.

"Yeah, I thought so, too." Ron frowned deeply at the pure sadness in Harry's voice and Ron thought his heart broke for his friend. "Thanks for letting me crash here, Ron" Harry said as he summoned his things to him from the living room.

"Harry, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?" Ron asked, noticing his last comment made Harry's mood plummet faster than normal. He stood up from his seat and tried to step towards Harry to put his hand on his shoulder or hug him or be some kind of comforting presence, but his frown only deepened when Harry moved away from him.

"Nah mate, you're good." Ron could hear the shakiness in his voice "I'll uh, see you later I guess," Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Harry was gone before he even had the chance.

Ron looked over at the food on the table, but found he wasn't hungry anymore, the pit in his stomach making him feel nauseous. He pulled out his wand and cleaned the mess up with a quick spell, before he went over to his couch and sat down heavily. Something was wrong, Ron could tell, something was very, very wrong.

He was sitting on the edge of the couch, and when he looked down as if someone was laying there, he got a weird sense of déjà vu. He tried to think of everybody that was at the party last night to try to dwindle down the list of men that could have hurt Harry so badly. Most of their school friends were there, but Ron didn't think that it was one of them. He thought about Harry's colleagues that had been invited, but for some reason he didn't think it would have been any of them either, as most of them were straight and/or came with their girlfriends/wives. Ron was confused, had somebody shown up later in the evening that he was too drunk to notice?

Ron sighed and hung his head, running a hand through his hair. He felt his heart break in his chest, whoever this guy was- Harry was serious about, and it just made Ron feel angry. He had never admitted it to anybody but the twins, but he loved Harry. He figured it out shortly after he had brought a guy to one of Fred and George's parties a few years ago, Ron had gone back and forth between watching Harry all night and paying attention to his date. Harry left early that night, and a few hours later Ron and his date went back to his place. His date came onto him, and while Ron liked the other bloke, all he could think of was Harry. He apologized to the guy and told him that their relationship wouldn't work. The guy was oddly graceful about it and left with a smile and a goodbye.

He had tried to date other people, he really had. But no matter if he tried to see a guy or a girl, his heart wasn't in it. It already belonged to someone else, Harry.

The redhead rubbed his face, Harry hadn't shown any interest in anybody in years now, so he couldn't think of anybody he would like enough to be so crushed by their departure. This made Ron think of his own rendezvous from the night before, the only clothes he had seen on the floor were his own, so they obviously were up and gone long before he woke up. He was confused who had somehow managed to get him to stop thinking about Harry long enough to sleep with them, nobody had been able to do that in a long while. He shook his head, it didn't matter right now who he had slept with, he had to figure out who hurt his friend.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Across town, a bushy haired girl walked up the stairs of an apartment building and came to stand in front of one of her best friends door and knocked. Hermione hadn't been able to make it to the party the night before because of a family emergency, but everything had turned out to be fine and she wanted to wish Harry a happy birthday and give him her gift. She frowned when there was no response, she knocked again, but her frown deepened when she heart a very muffled "Go away!" called out to her.

Hermione took out her wand and tapped the doorknob, pleased when the door swung open for her. Ron, Hermione, and Harry had all keyed into their wards the others magical signatures, so even if the door was locked, they could simply touch the knob with their wand and the wards would let them inside. She stepped into the living room and closed the door behind her, when she noticed Harry wasn't in there or in the kitchen, she made her way into the bedroom. She opened the bedroom door and peeked inside, gasping at what she saw.

Inside was one of her best friends curled up into a small ball, sobbing his eyes out. Hermione rushed over to him, "Harry! Harry what's wrong?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair. Harry just cried harder and shook his head, burying his face in his hands.

"Oh Harry…" she whispered, pulling him into her arms and hugging him, as she did, she noticed the hickeys on his neck, and knew right away this was a guy's fault.

"Harry, sweetheart, you have to tell me what happened so I can help you. Please?" she tried to draw Harry out of his shell, it worked a little bit, getting choked out words that almost formed a sentence.

"Party… alcohol… drunk… stayed the night… made love…" he paused there, a sob escaped him, then he shook his head "no, had sex… hungover… doesn't remember…"

Hermione put the pieces together to form the outline of the story, "you were at the party last night, everybody was drinking, you stayed the night with someone, and they don't remember it even happened?" at Harrys stuttering breath and a nod, she rocked him back in forth in her arms, petting his hair gently.

"Who was it Harry? Why does it hurt so bad?" she thought for a moment and realized that Harry had said 'made love' before 'had sex' and she suddenly understood. "Oh Har'… it was Ron, wasn't it?" she whispered.

At Harry's cry of pain and another nod, she felt fury fill her. How dare he? How dare he do this to Harry? drunk or not, there was no excuse. Hermione sighed and continued her gentle and calming administrations. "Do you want to open your birthday present?" she asked softly. When Harry just shook his head, she nodded, "Alright, we'll open it later, when you're feeling better." She moved up further into the bed and sat in a comfortable position against the headboard, before pulling Harry back into her arms. It was going to be a long day.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

It was almost a month later, and Hermione's worry for her friend only grew with the days.

Harry buried himself with his work at St. Mungos, taking in more patients and working way too many hours for one person to handle, but he did it anyway. Each week when Ron had tried to schedule their weekly hang out, Harry had either lied and said he was busy, or just simply ignored him. It hurt to even think about his birthday, and the birthday present Hermione had gotten him still sat unopened on his kitchen table. The love bites on his neck were all gone now, but Harry found looking in the mirror still hurt to do.

Harry felt empty, no matter what he did he couldn't fill the empty space in his chest. Existing felt tiring, and when he wasn't working, he was restlessly sleeping. He wasn't eating unless someone forced the food down his throat, and he rarely spoke to anybody but Hermione and his patients.

Hermione was worried, really worried. She knew this would affect Harry poorly, but she had no idea just how bad her friend would be. He was working himself to the bone, and the lack of sleep and food made him look like a ghost. She had tried to convince him to go talk to Ron, but every time the redhead was mentioned Harry would just start crying or would spiral out of the present.

She was worried that one day he was just going to go down at work from the lack of sleep and food. Hermione met with Harry's boss and told her that even though Harry looked okay, and his work performance was good, he wasn't well. And she all but begged the woman to not let Harry take more than 60 hours a week at the hospital. His boss agreed, but that didn't stop Harry from working later than he was scheduled for.

Hermione had planned to go talk to Ron, but Harry had begged her not to, that it would just make things worse. He convinced her that he just needed some time to get over it, but as the weeks went by and Hermione noticed that there was absolutely no improvement, she wasn't so sure time would help at all.

Hermione was currently sitting him her own apartment; it was Saturday morning and she was sorting out bills. She heard a tapping on the window, she got up to go open it for the owl to swoop in. She noticed right away that it was Ron's owl, and she raised her eyebrow. She took the post and gave the thing a treat before it flew away.

Hermione read over the note, but she soon realized that it wasn't sent by Ron, in fact, it was sent by the twins. Her eyebrows only made their way into her hairline as she read. They had simply asked her to come into the shop for a private conversation about 'the idiots'. She guessed they meant Harry and Ron, so she grabbed her keys and immediately apparated over.

Hermione stepped into the store and found that while it was busy, the people Fred and George hired were doing a very good job at keeping the lines short and the customers happy.

Fred showed up in the doorway to the hall that went to their attached apartment, having felt Hermione's magical signature enter the wards. He looked over at her and smiled, before beckoning her over. Hermione followed Fred into the hallway and up the stairs, when they made it to the living room she got a hug from George and then a hug from Fred.

"Ah, Hermione-" George started,

"Just the person we were needing to see," Fred continued.

"You see, there seems to be a rift-"

"In Harry and Ron's relationship."

"We saw them at the party-"

"And they both seemed fine,"

"But ickle Ronnikins is up in a tizzy-"

"About Harry avoiding him-"

"And refusing to see him."

"Might you have-"

"Any information on the matter?" the twins finished the last of their back and forth speaking in unison on the last line. Hermione still didn't know for sure, but she was almost positive the two could read each other's minds.

Hermione sat down on a chair, crossing her arms over her chest, the twins sat across from her and waited patiently. Hermione wondered if she should tell the twins anything, after all- they were Ron's brothers. But there was a reason they specifically called her here and not Harry, and there was a reason Ron wasn't here either. She wondered what they were playing at.

"What has Ron told you happened the night of the party and morning after?" she asked casually, eyeing the twins.

"He said that he blacked out about 1:30 in the morning, and then he woke up with a hangover." George started,

"Woke up _naked,_ with a hangover," Fred clarified.

"Ron said he got dressed and made his way out into the kitchen-"

"Where Harry was standing at the stove making breakfast."

"There was coffee and a hangover potion waiting for him-"

"And after he took it, he just sat and drank his coffee."

"The next part is where it gets interesting," they said in unison, Hermione tried not to roll her eyes at their back and forth talk, glad that she's had the last 10+ years to get used to it.

"Ron said Harry put a plate down in front of him-"

"And when he looked up, Harry was practically glowing and covered in hickeys."

"Ron said he commented something like 'had fun last night, huh?' and then Harry agreed-"

"But when Ron asked who it was-"

"That's when Harry's mood plummeted."

Hermione took a breath when they finally finished, she had heard all of this from Harry, well- in bits and pieces. She pinched the bridge of her nose "Any other information?"

"When he asked who the bloke was, Harry said it didn't matter-" Fred began,

"That it would never happen again-" George continued,

"And Ron said something like 'it looks like he liked you based on all the hickeys,'-"

"And Harry had said 'yeah, I thought so, too.'"

"The rest is mostly Ron asking what was wrong and Harry rushing to leave."

Hermione nodded along "Harry had a one night stand that night with a guy he's been in love with for ages, but when he woke up the guy didn't remember what had happened. Harry was, and still is, devastated that he let himself believe somebody actually wanted _him_, rather than a quick drunk fuck," She said, she managed to keep her voice calm and steady despite the anger building up inside of her.

The twins stared at her for a moment "That's why Harry hasn't been around. He's thrown himself into work, so he doesn't have to think, hasn't he?" it was George who spoke, his face blank. Hermione nodded,

"He is trying to avoid thinking about it as much as possible, but everything seems to remind him of it, even though he's been avoiding the person like the plague, he is… not well. He looks like a walking ghost and he cries anytime he thinks about what happened, or the person."

The twins stared again, and then at the same time looks of realization, and then fury, passed their faces. They stood and both went running towards the Floo. "Hey!" Hermione called after them, she ran up and was able to grab them both by a wrist and yank them back before they did anything too hasty.

"Let us go!" Fred shouted as Hermione pulled them back towards the couch.

"We are going to kill him!" George shouted next, both had barely controlled rage in their eyes.

"That blasted idiot-"

Hermione whistled loudly to get their attention, they both turned to her, their anger fading just a bit. "Tell me what you are going on about, tell me what you know," she glared at them.

The twins looked at each other and then back at her George starts to yell first "The blasted idiot loves Harry-!"

"Has for years-!"

"And he finally decides to act on it-"

"And he's so fucking drunk-"

"He doesn't even remember!"

"He's been all bent out of shape-"

"Looking for the guy who hurt Harry so badly-"

"And he was the one who fucking did it!" they were seething, and Hermione knew immediately that they were talking about Ron.

"He… he loves Harry?" she asks, I mean yeah, she knew Ron was fond of him, but she suspected it was because they were best friends.

"Yes! And now if you'll excuse us, we have a brother to maim!" George said, standing again, Fred followed, they walked towards the fireplace.

"Wait," Hermione said as she walked over to them. "I want to come, too." The twins nod and one at a time they throw Floo powder into the fireplace and call "Ron's flat!"

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

They stepped out of the fireplace one by one, and they looked around the apartment, trying to scope out their target. they doesn't have to look far, as Ron comes out of the bedroom to see who had Floo'd in.

"Oh, hey guys," Ron greets the twins first, and then he notices hermione and he looks confused "Oh, hey 'Mione, I wasn't expecting you to come 'round today."

Before Hermione even had time to respond, she watched as the twins lunged at him. Ron yelps and tries to dodge, but the twins have the upper hand.

"You fucking idiot!" one of the twins start, although Hermione can't tell which one in the scuffle,

"You bloody wanker!" they insult as they wrestle with their younger brother.

"You know the kid for 13 years-"

"And you love him for 3-"

"And you go and knock him down so many pegs-"

"That he isn't even eating!"

They were yelling, and it isn't long after the twins finish their sentence that they have Ron pinned to the floor, their wands at his throat.

"What the hell are you two talking about!" Ron asked, looking down at the wands at his neck. He looked over at Hermione in confusion, but she just raises an eyebrow at him.

"Harry has been working so much-" this time Hermione cuts in the middle of Fred's sentence.

"Over 65 hours a week."

Fred turns back to Ron, even angrier, "Over 65 hours a week! At the hospital! He barely has time to sleep with a schedule like that!"

"And it's all your bloody fault!" George finished,

Ron looks so confused, he's looking between the twins with wide eyes, "What are you talking about? I know I made him upset that I asked who-"

"Shut up!" Fred and George yell in unison, lifting him up and slamming his back down on the floor for emphasis. Ron closes his mouth, when his brothers were this angry, it didn't do well to not listen to the orders they gave you.

"Hermione- care to add?" one of them asks, and Hermione walks over and sits on Ron's coffee table, only a few feet from where Fred has him pinned to the floor.

"I went to Harry's apartment the day after the party to give him his birthday present, I knocked and there was no answer, I knocked again, and he yelled for me to go away. I used my wand on the handle to get inside, and I found him in his bedroom curled up into a ball and sobbing his eyes out." Her voice is calm, but her eyes are also furious.

"I tried to get him to tell me what happened, and he was so distraught he couldn't even form sentences. He said the night of the party he had slept with the person he's been in love with for years, and he was so happy. He thought this person had actually wanted him, had actually loved him," she paused as Ron went to speak, but the twins growled, he quickly shut his mouth again.

"But this person was drunk, and he knew that, but he hoped he still loved him anyway. He referred to it as 'making love' before he cried harder and changed it back to 'just sex'. He woke up the next morning before his partner, and when they came out of the room and eventually spoke to Harry, they asked who had given the hickeys all over his neck. They were so blackout drunk that they didn't even remember what happened the night before." She finished, leaning back and sitting Indian style on the table.

"Sound familiar, Ronald?" one of the twins asked, Ron still looked confused, but then he processed what hermione had said and his eyes widened. "No…" he whispered, horrified.

"It was me; it was me and I…" he paused his words, swallowing around the lump in his throat. "I was so drunk that I don't remember. I don't… I don't remember," tears started to fall form his eyes and the twins slowly moved their wands away and moved their way off of him, but Ron stayed laying on the floor.

"I…I love him so much, and he… he loves me?" he looked up at Hermione who just nodded. "And I hurt him, I'm the reason he's like this," that time it wasn't a question, but a statement. "What have I done?" he whispered, placing his hands over his face as more tears fell out of his eyes.

Hermione got off the table and pat his shoulder "you've gotta fix this, because if you don't- I'm not sure he'll be able to be fixed." She said firmly. He moved his hands away and looked up at her, determination filled his eyes and he nodded.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

It was late, probably close to 11 at night, Harry had been at work sense 5 am, and now he was exhausted. He threw his outer robes onto the dining room chair, undoing his tie as he waked towards the couch. He pulled his knees up onto the couch, it was Friday, usually Fridays were the days he hung out with Ron. He felt something in his chest feel like it was being shattered, and he whimpered a little.

His couch was facing with his back to the front door, when he heard a knock on the door, he assumed it was just Hermione, she checked on him every few days after work, so it would make sense it was her. "Come in, Herm!" he called tiredly, just staring at the blank TV screen. He heard the door open and then close, and then footsteps coming towards him.

"I know what you're going to say, and the answer is yes, I do know that I'm staring at a blank screen." he tried to joke, but it came out a little flat and pathetic, you could hear the misery in his voice.

There was no answer from the other person, Harry just sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "It still hurts 'Mione, shouldn't it have stopped by now?" he felt arms slide around his shoulders and hold him for a moment, but when he looked down and saw definitely not Hermione's arms, he started and pulled away, turning back to finally see who was there.

It was Ron, he stood there with sad eyes as he looked Harry over. The bags under his eyes were dark and heavy, and you could see in his face that he had lost weight, he felt a stab of guilt when he remembered that he had done this to the man in front of him. "Hey," he said quietly, coming around to sit next to Harry on the couch.

Harry scooted away from him, farther into the corner of the couch, "R-Ron, what are you doing here?" he asked, trying to keep the shaking out of his voice.

"I think we need to talk, Har'" was Ron's response, he moved so he was facing his friend so he could look him in the eyes.

"Wh-What about?" Harry feigned ignorance, he looked around the room searching for the exits, thinking of the quickest way he could get to them if need be.

"Why didn't you tell me it was me?" Ron asked quietly, "When I woke up, and didn't remember, why did you not tell me it was me?"

Harry pulled his knees up to his chest and he looked down, "I figured you would prefer not knowing. It was a one-night stand, yeah? Nothing serious." he tried to sound casual, but it wasn't happening, tears started to come to his eyes again and he tried so hard to make them go away, but they wouldn't. "You were hammered, and then you kissed me. You were so drunk I could still taste the alcohol on your tongue even though you were cut off a few hours prior. I tried to stop, I pushed you away because I knew you were out of it, I guess I just didn't realize how out of it you were… you started kissing my neck when I pushed you away, and you said you wanted me, and I just wanted so badly to believe it." the tears were falling down his face now, he didn't bother to wipe them away, he let his legs down off the couch so he could sit properly, looking back towards the blank TV. "and so, I did, and you kissed me again and carried me to the bedroom and left all those hickeys and I was so happy to finally be in your arms. And I just love you so much and when you didn't remember it felt like somebody ripped my heart out. You were drunk, you didn't want me, you just wanted someone." He finished quietly.

Ron was silent for a moment, before his hand came to rest on the back of Harrys neck and he pulled him close, kissing him slowly. Harry gasped and Ron used the opportunity to explore the others mouth. He felt a weird Déjà vu creep into his mind.

Harry started to pull away, but Ron held him closer, and Harry felt himself relaxing and kissing him back a little hesitantly. The redhead finally pulled away after a moment, "I'm sorry," he whispered, moving and pulling Harry into his lap, "I'm sorry that I came onto you, I'm sorry that I was plastered, I'm sorry that I don't remember a goddamn thing, but I'm not sorry that it happened," he moved to wipe a tear from the others face.

"Ron, I-" but Ron shook his head to cut him off,

"You're wrong about the 'just wanted someone' thing. I've not been with anybody in nearly three years because every time I would try, I could only think of one person," he rubbed his hands up and down Harrys sides "you. I love you Harry, and while drunk Ron shouldn't have been the one finally make a move, we wouldn't be here now without him, yeah?" his voice lowered in volume as he spoke, becoming unsure of himself.

"Ron?" Harry finally says after a moment of silence,

"yeah Harry?"

"You are an idiot, and I love you too." Harry gave him a small smile.

Ron just grinned and pulled Harry back in for another searing kiss.


End file.
